The Must Know Facts About Potugal

The Best of Portugal can refer to many different perspectives such as the best activities, best places or best products.

Portugal is located in the south western part of Europe and its fame is spread worldwide because of the supreme quality wines produced in its vineyards. The most popular among the different wine varieties produced in the country are the Port wine and Madeira wines. While it is true that Portugal is very famous worldwide for its wines and vineyards, olive oil too has been emerging slowly as one of the leading cash crops and in some parts of Portugal, olive oil groves are located in close proximity to vineyards. Some of the prominent olive growing regions in the best of Portugal include the hills of the Moura region, the Norte Alentjano, the upper Douro and the Tras-os-Montes in the northern part of Portugal.

Another premier product that greatly contributes to best of Portugal’s soaring economy is the cork which is obtained from the cork oak tree grown extensively in Portugal. In fact an estimated area of about 720 hectares of land in Portugal is dedicated to cork oak cultivation and the cork is the bark of the cork oak tree.

Various kinds of Portuguese embroidery patterns practiced include the Palestrina stitch, the Cretan stitch, the Rosette stitch, the bullion knot, the Montenegrin cross stitch, the coral stitch, the herringbone stitch and many others.

The origin of equestrian, a significant sport in Portugal can be traced back to the remote times of the ancient past and the prevalent horse breeds in Portuguese equestrian activities are known to have evolved from the Iberian horse types. The Lusitano is the most popular horse breed in Portugal and it is to be noticed that it owes the origin of its name to Luso who was the son of the roman god Bacchus and also it should be mentioned that under roman subordination, Portugal was known as Lusitania. Apart from the Lusitano, there are two more important horse breeds in Portugal, namely the Garrano and the Sorraia.

Portuguese literature is one of the earliest specimens of literary forms in the west and the origin of the Portuguese language can be attributed to the Latin which was the principle language of the Roman Empire.

Portuguese music is very famous mostly because of its traditional folk music trends like the regional folk songs and most importantly the ‘fado’. However, modern musical forms like reggae, pop and hip hop are also equally popular in the country. The fado, meaning ‘fate’ in Portuguese is the indigenous musical form practiced by the urban poor populace of Lisbon where it had originated.

The south and west of Portugal are surrounded by the formidable Atlantic Ocean and therefore a lot of sea food and sea fish varieties are included within the Portuguese diet. These include sardines and cod fish. Moreover, pork and meat are used in sausages as well for other dishes. Some of the enriched delicacies include caldeirada, feijoada, bacalhau, chorico, cozido, francessinha, pastel de Belem

Portugal presents some of the exotic landscapes and its rich historical and cultural heritage has attracted tourists for years and according to the recent statistics of 2006, a whopping amount of about 12.8 million tourists visited the country. The principle city of Portugal, Lisbon has been esteemed to be the second city of Europe after Barcelona to be visited most frequently by the tourists. The places which lure tourists in maximum numbers include Lisbon, the islands of Madeira and Azores, Alentejo, Greater Porto, Algarve, Porto e Norte or northern Portugal.

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